Dom Gerard McGinley was Abbot of Our Lady of the Genesee in Piffard, New York at the time of this correspondence with Merton.
Vincent F. McGee writes from New York.
Dom Robert McGann was abbot of the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Ghost (Holy Ghost Abbey) in Conyers, Georgia. He became abbot after Dom James Fox left in 1948 to become abbot of Gethsemani Abbey. He asks Merton some questions about the scholasticate.
Christopher McFadden writes from Wilton, Connecticut.
Frank E. McElroy was Executive Director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Northeastern Region, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Cindy McElhose was an 11-year-old from Grand Blanc, Michigan. Her class project was to write a letter to a famous person and ask how to be a better teenager and American.
Born in Philadelphia in 1911, Thomas McDonough served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, from 1967 to 1981, taking over from Archbishop John Floersh. Prior to this, McDonough had been bishop in the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia.
Thomas P. McDonnell was a staff writer for «The Pilot», a publication of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts. He often wrote book reviews about Merton's books, edited «A Thomas Merton Reader», and interviewed Merton for «Motive», a magazine affiliated with the Methodist Student Movement. McDonnell often sent Merton other reviews and articles he had written for «The Pilot» and other publications.
Fr. Kilian McDonnell is a Benedictine monk of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. He is founder and president of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. He had the rare distinction for a Catholic monk in the early 1960's to do advanced studies in a Protestant faculty in Germany. He also studied under Catholic theologian Hans Küng. He was editor of «Sponsa Regis», (later known as «Sisters Today») to which Merton contributed. (Source: "Father Kilian McDonnell, OSB". Website of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. Accessed 9 November 2005. ‹http://www.iecr.org/kilianosb.htm›.)
Bishop William Joseph McDonald (at the time of writing to Merton, Msgr. William J. McDonald) was Editor-in-Chief of the «New Catholic Encyclopedia» and asks Merton to contribute. Merton sends an article on spiritual direction. McDonald writes from Washington, D.C.
Donald McDonald writes of behalf of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California.
Fr. Barry McDermott was with the Newman Foundation at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois.
Vincent A. McCrossen was a professor at Boston College. He writes from Lexington, Massachusetts.
Dom Edward McCorkell was abbot of the Trappist monks at Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, Virginia.
John L. McClenahan was a physician writing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fr. Thomas McCarthy (known as Fr. Malachy with the Trappists) was a monk at the time of writing at New Melleray Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa.
Eoin McCarthy writes from London, England.
Edward McCarthy was a teacher at a Catholic grammar school in Coventry, England.
Colman McCarthy was a former monk of Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers, Georgia. He left and became a columnist, writing for «The Washington Post» and others. He writes to Merton from the federal government's Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C. A pacifist and animal rights activist, he has now devoted his life to peace education and writing books on this subject.
John H. McCallum worked for Harcourt Brace publishers in New York.
Fr. Alfred McBride writes to member of the National Association for Pastoral Renewal (NAPR) advisory board, which included Merton.
Fr. Thiband M. Maze was a Benedictine monk from the Abbaye Notre-Dame Du Bec in France.
Leonard F. X. Mayhew was Publicity Editor for Sheed and Ward in New York.
Pawel Mayewski was Editor of the quarterly on culture, «Tematy». He writes from New York.
Lisa M. Mayer was secretary to Helen Wolff of Harcourt, Brace and World in New York.
Rollo May was the author of a number of books on existential psychology. Before earning he doctoral degree from Columbia University in 1949, he tried different disciplines, including studying at Union Theological Seminary with Paul Tillich. He was influenced both by existentialist writers and philosophers like Sören Kierkegaard and psychologists like Erich Fromm. May writes from New York. (Source: "May, Rollo." World Authors 1985-1990 (1995). Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 12 Dec. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Lilian May from Brazil sends Merton some books by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.
Sr. Rita Maury, who seems to have formerly used the name in religion of Sr. Frances Therese, was a Sister of St. Joseph writing from Milford, Massachusetts.
Sr. Mary Maurice and Sr. Lillian were Felician Sisters of the St. Teresa of Avila Convent in Akron, New York.
Fr. Francis J. Matthews writes on behalf of the National Association for Pastoral Renewal. He was also the Director of the Catholic Radio and Television Apostolate for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri, and was the Executive Secretary of the National Carta Foundation (NCF).
Fr. Francesco Mattesini, from the journal «Vita e Pensiero» in Milan, Italy, writes to Robert MacGregor of New Directions publishing in New York. MacGregor makes a note on the letter and forwards it to Merton.
Olga Elena Mattei is a poet living in Medellin, Colombia. She was born in Puerto Rico and often wrote concerning social justice. Merton was a fan of her work.
James F. Mathias writes as Secretary for the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in New York. He writes on behalf of a request by Clayton Eshleman for a Guggenheim grant award.
Richard Matthews was Editor of the first edition of the «Florida Quarterly», from University of Florida in Gainesville. Martin Lee Curry took over as General Editor for the next issue.
Jacques Masui writes from Switzerland on behalf of the magazine «Hermes».
Archimandrite Elie Mastroyanopoulos writes from Athens, Greece.
Louis Massignon was a French scholar who wrote some of the most influential works on Islamic studies of the 20th century. Massignon had an especially keen interest in the Sufi mystic of ninth century Baghdad, Hallaj (Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj). Based on his idea of "substitution mystique", accepting the sufferings of others, and the similar idea of «badal» by Hallaj, he received approval from Rome to form the sodality of the Badaliya in 1947. (The movement had its roots from a vow taken in 1934 with his friend, Mary Kahil.) He was later granted permission by Pope Pius XII in 1950 to become a married priest of the Melkite rite. Merton was introduced to him by Herbert Mason. Massignon later introduced a Pakistani friend and Sufi scholar, Abdul Aziz, to Merton's work, and Aziz and Merton thenceforth correspondence. Massignon wrote to Merton of his concerns about the racial tensions in France concerning the immigration of north African Muslims and about the after-effects of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and the consequences for peace between Israeli's and Palestinians. Massignon's combination of a love of mysticism with an outspoken nature about the world's problems might have influenced Merton. (Source: «Witness to Freedom», pp. 275-276.)
Herbert Mason is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies in the history and religion departments of Boston University in Massachusetts. He first became interested in his field through contact with Louis Massignon. Mason later introduced Merton to Massignon. Mason has written and translated many middle eastern texts from a narrative on the Gilgamesh epic to a translation of Massignon's most famous work, «The Passion of al-Hallaj». (Sources: «Witness to Freedom», p. 259; and "Herbert Mason" Boston University (website). Accessed 5 Dec. 2005. ‹http://www.bu.edu/uni/faculty/profiles/mason.html›.)
Christiana Maslin writes from Saint-Chaffrey, Hautes-Alpes, France.
Sr. Mary St. Thomas was the Anglican contemplative community of the Society of the Precious Blood at Burnham Abbey in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.
Sr. Mary Ruth of the Holy Infant writes from the Maryknoll Cloister in Maryknoll, New York.
Mother Mary Philomena was Abbess of the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Chicago, Illinois.
Sr. Mary of the Heart of Jesus was Sub-prioress of the Carmel at Waterbeach, near Cambridge, England.
Sr. Mary Margaret is a Redemptorist nun of the Monastery of St. Alphonsus in Liguori, Missouri.
Mother Mary Margaret was the Anglican abbess of Holy Cross Convent in Sussex, England. She discusses ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans and broader topics of ecumenism.
Sr. Mary Immaculate was one of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Saint Mary Convent in Monroe, Michigan.
Sr. Mary Immaculate was from the Congregation of the Holy Cross at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Sr. Mary Gabriel was a Sister of Mercy from Jamestown, New York.
Sr. Mary Evangeline was Executive Secretary of the Sister Formation Conference. She writes from Washington, D.C.
Sr. Mary Charlotte was President of Catherine Spalding College in Louisville (now known as Spalding University) and was a Sister of Charity of Nazareth.
Sr. Mary Catherine of the Heart of Christ was a nun of the Carmel of the Holy Family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Mother Agnes Mary was from the Monastery of Poor Clares of Newport News, Virginia.
As described by William H. Shannon, Marty is a "[w]ell-known author in the field of religious literature and longtime associate editor of «Christian Century»" (source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 454-455).
Fr. Angel Martinez was a Jesuit priest and poet from Nicaragua. He has published a number of books of poetry. Merton heard of Martinez through José Coronel Urtecho. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», pp. 206.)
Mary Declan Martin was a student in the education department of Brescia College in Owensboro, Kentucky. She asks Merton about his educational philosophy.
Frederick R. Martin was Managing Editor of the publishing house New Directions. He writes from New York.
Fr. Martin Oliver was a Dominican priest from France writing about Fr. Etienne Vayssière and the worker-priest movement.
Reginald Marsh was a artist and friend of Owen Merton, Thomas' father and another artist. Unlike Owen, who tended toward watercolor landscapes, Marsh is often considered of the Social Realist school, reporting in detail urban life in the 1930's through his paintings and drawings. Merton writes to Marsh in April of 1932 while on Easter holiday from Oakham in Germany and writes again from Oakham. He would spend most of the summer of 1933 at Marsh's studio in Greenwich Village in New York. (Source: The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton by Michael Mott, pp. 61 and 73.)
Michael Marsch was a German Christian who went to Israel to study Hebrew.
Peter Marron writes on behalf of «Cithara», "essays in the Judeo-Christian tradition".